The subject matter of the present disclosure broadly relates to the art of support structures and, more particularly, to mounting assemblies that are operative to support static and dynamic loads while damping and/or isolating vibrations between the supporting and supported structures between which the mounting assemblies are disposed.
It will be appreciated that the subject matter of the present disclosure is capable of broad application and use in connection with a variety of applications and/or environments in which static and/or dynamic loads associated with a supported structure are transferred or otherwise communicated to a supporting structure. Non-limiting examples of environments in which mounting assemblies in accordance with the subject matter of the present disclosure are suitable for use can include light-duty (e.g., automotive) and heavy-duty (e.g., tractor and/or trailer) motor vehicle applications, industrial machinery and equipment applications, agricultural and farm machinery applications, marine power and drive applications, aeronautical applications, and/or power generation (e.g., wind turbine, gas turbine and electrical generator) applications.
In known support structures, a supported structure or component can generate or otherwise be associated with static and dynamic loads. Typically, such loads are transmitted or otherwise communicated to the corresponding supporting structure or component. Mounting assemblies having conventional constructions of a wide variety of types, kinds, configurations and arrangements have been developed for use in transmitting or otherwise communicating the static and dynamic loads to, from and/or otherwise between the supported and supporting structures.
In many cases, conventional mounting assemblies provide a substantially-rigid interconnection between the supported and supporting structures. In such cases, one or more mounting assemblies are often fixedly attached to the supporting structure and pivotally attached to the supported structure. While such constructions may provide some degree of rotational freedom, such constructions are typically substantially fixed in the radial and/or axial directions.
However, in cases in which vibrations and/or other undesirable inputs are generated by or otherwise communicated to, from and/or between the supported and supporting structures, known mounting assemblies of the foregoing construction tend to directly transmit or otherwise communicate such vibrations and/or other undesirable inputs to, from and/or between the supported and supporting structures. As a result, mounting assemblies have been developed that provide a robust interconnection between the supported and supporting structures while also providing some amount of vibration damping and/or isolation. However, such designs are often deemed to provide effective damping over only a limited range of frequencies of vibration. In other cases, the transmission of undesirable vibrations could potentially be reduced through the use of a less rigid or otherwise more-compliant connection between the supported and supporting structures. However, mounting assemblies are typically sized or otherwise designed to withstand static and dynamic loads within a particular load range and to maintain the desired level of performance at least within those load ranges. In many cases, reducing the rigidity or otherwise increasing the compliance of the mounting assemblies can result in a decrease in performance (e.g., increased deflection) and/or other disadvantageous issues.
Notwithstanding the widespread usage and overall success of the wide variety of mounting assemblies that are known in the art, it is believed that a need exists to meet the foregoing and/or other competing goals while still providing comparable or improved performance, ease of manufacture, ease of assembly, ease of installation and/or reduced cost of manufacture.